BANKS. The first bank was the New Hamp shire Bank, of Portsmouth, chartered in 1792 and until 1800 the only bank in the State. In the beginning of the nineteenth century several banks were established, which called forth spe cial legislation, and as early as 1814 the State passed a law requiring annual reports from them. By 1835 there were twenty-five hanks in the State, hut in the finaneial panic of 1837 many suspended payment. In 1845 there were only seventeen banks, with a small aggregate cap ital. and a circulation of less than $1.000,000.
In the next decade the banks recovered. and by 1863, when the national banking system was introduced, there were fifty-two State banks in operation. with a capital of almost $5,000,000. By 1870 all but three banks had become national. State banks have remained unimportant since then. Private banks have been prohibited since 1799.
Trust companies appeared in 1885 and tried to do the business of both discount banks and savings banks. Six of them are in existence. Savizigs banks have always been numerous and popular. The two savings banks chartered in 1823 were among the first in the country. The savings hanks deposits grew with special rapidity after the Civil War. About one-fourth of all the savings banks went into liquidation in the panic of 1893, and a bill was passed for their regulation in 1895.-strictly limiting their invest ments. The act was further amended in 1901. In 1902 there were 147,928 depositors (one for about (-very 2.8 of the population), with an aver age deposit of $407.29. The condition of the banks in the State in 1902 is shown in the follow ing table: